Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica came to Dilma Rousseff’s defence in a public appearance at a Rio de Janeiro university Thursday, calling on students to defend Brazilian democracy.
In front of a cheering crowd of 5,000 people, Mujica criticized any “adventure with uniform” amid calls for Rousseff’s impeachment among Brazil’s right-wing opposition groups.
“Coup d'etat? Please ... This movie, we have seen many times in Latin America. This democracy is not perfect because we are not perfect. But we have to defend it to improve it and not to bury it,” he said at the State University of Rio de Janeiro.
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South America "is troubled," Mujica added, not only by the threat from the right, but also by the lack of unity from both political forces of the left, as well as from the countries that make up the continent.”
Mujica, who is currently a senator, cautioned the young crowd that governments will not fix their problems, but that they themselves will have to hoist the "flag of equality."
Mujica’s comments come after hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of several cities across Brazil last week, calling for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff, in what her supporters have called a “smear campaign” promoted by right-wing opposition and the media.
The recent demonstrations coincide with the leader’s falling popularity, prompted by scandals involving the state-majority-owned oil giant Petrobras and the ruling Worker's Party (PT).